Hey readers, how are you today?
Did you know that 19,000,000 of us Americans deal with severe depression? Did you know that I have my days, like this morning, where I wake up and just don’t feel like Joe, don’t feel like singing at the top of my lungs, and feel out of sink? On these days, I used to feel completely alone. I would feel like my feelings were completely unique, that no one could relate to how I was feeling. I felt weird, ungodly, a failure, and like I wasn’t following the commands of the Bible about joy. 19,000,000 people feel the same way; isn’t it sickening that I would believe the lie that I am the only one!? Do you feel like the only one feeling downtrodden right now? Where is this lie coming from? John 10:10, “the thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.” I think it is pretty clear that it isn’t from God, because he goes on to say, “My Purpose to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
Lets read a journal entry of mine from about three weeks ago about our call to claim joy!
Joy is a fundamental characteristic of God. We are made in the image of God so joy is one of our traits. Joy can be found in many things. I find joy in running, I find joy when I am with girls and I find joy when I watch my dog run free in a field. Sin is making joy in these things without appreciating God.
I devoted a lot of time in high school to running. So much that I cared about my performance and devoted my thoughts to it more than to my God! It was my ultimate sense of Joy. In my sophomore year running, my joy, was taken from me and I went into deep sadness and became very angry at God.
Girls were a lot of my focus in high school and were a huge source of self-worth and joy. I even compromised beliefs because of girls. I am single now, so obviously this joy did not last.
I am not wild about animals but if I felt a deep connection and love for a dog and devoted my time and heart to it, it could develop into a God (God is dog backwards). It would be a great source of joy for me. Dogs die. With it, a person can be grief stricken and become angry and feel like a part of them died with it.
I have been reading about joy in my Spiritual Formation class. Ortberg talks about the spiritual discipline of joy. In, “The life you’ve always wanted,” it talks about how we wait in lines to experience joy (like at a theme park), we work at our jobs for future joy, and even mundane tasks like brushing our teeth are a waiting process for the joys of sleep. If we wait for joy, we will die and still be waiting. It must be seized!
Circumstances in life will often give us no reason for joy: huge tests, long classes, boring job, a breakup, or even an unfaithful friend. As Christians, we must not place all of our joy into only the positive things in life and wait for them; we must constantly praise God for his awesome power, love, Heaven, and Jesus. Think of when Ezra reads the “Book of the laws of Moses,” to the Israelites in Nehemiah 8. They are a bunch of commands of don’ts. The people even have to stand for three hours while the rules were laid out for them (Neh 9:3). What was their response? “The people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the law.” What a hard standard they had to live up to!
What do the leaders say to this? “This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” The Israelites responded to God’s calling and celebrated like no tomorrow (they probably ate bacon, bushes best beans, and fire jumped) and were filled with supernatural joy!
Did that have a worldly reason to celebrate? Did they just receive a raise or did Allen Iverson just win a championship? The answer is no. In NEH 9:5 they did not draw joy from worldly objects but prayed to God, “May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the Lord. You made the skies and the Heavens and all the stars. You made the earth and the seas and everything in them. You preserve them all, and the angels of Heaven worship you.”
One caution of warning: I was dreaming and praying about joy and I heard the Lord prompt me: “You must check everything with scripture!” So, lets read the scriptures and what they say about joy so we aren’t searching for joy in the wrong places.
